
In the popular culture of Western countries Karma is often confused with Cause & Effect. While they are similar and intertwined, there is a significant difference.
When the Buddha was enlightened, the nature and mechanics of Cause & Effect was one of his insights. He was not the first to see this, but his particular realization, centered around his quest to discover the causes of human suffering, found that Cause & Effect plays a major role in life and is central to all Buddhist teaching.
The point is that everything, all objects, persons, and phenomena, are manifest because of causes and conditions. Over the infinite continuum of time, cause & effect is the functioning that produced our universe, what came before, and what will come after.
We are all subject to this law of cause & effect. It’s easy to see it operating all around us, but most people do not go very deeply into the implications.
At first glance, some would say that this proves determinism, that we have no control over our lives and fate. This is an incorrect conclusion. Why? Because of Karma.
The difference between the impersonal workings of Cause & Effect and Karma is that Karma is what we add to the stream of causes and conditions through our thoughts, speech, and actions. We have free will to effect change, and that change is intimately connected to everything and everyone. Can one person save the world? No, but that doesn’t mean that what we choose doesn’t matter.
We have a role to play, and an obligation, to use our highest and best wisdom and compassion, blended evenly together, to make choices. We should take this seriously.
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